Rated
R (Sexual Content, Crude Humor, Pervasive Language and Some Drug Material)
Running
Time: 2 Hours & 14 Minutes
Cast-
Paul
Rudd-Pete
Leslie
Mann-Debbie
Maude
Apatow-Sadie
Iris
Apatow-Charlotte
Jason
Segel-Jason
Megan
Fox-Desi
Charlyne
Yi-Jodi
Albert
Brooks-Larry
John
Lithgow-Oliver
Chris
O'Dowd-Ronnie
Lena
Dunham-Cat
Melissa
McCarthy-Catherine
Ryan
Lee-Joseph
Annie
Mumolo-Barb
Robert
Smigel-Barry
Graham
Parker-Himself
Billie
Joe Armstrong-Himself
Directed
by Judd Apatow
 |
| Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann try to convince you that spoiled, upper middle class white people have problems too in Judd Apatow's "This Is 40." |
Five
years after the events of "Knocked Up," Debbie (Leslie Mann) is now
40 and to celebrate, her husband Pete (Paul Rudd) takes a Viagra and has shower
sex with her. However, she immediately stops upon learning that Pete needs
pills in order to maintain an erection, calling it the 'worst birthday present
ever' and that 'forty can suck my di*k!' In order to reignite the spark in
their marriage, Debbie and Pete agree to give up their bad habits as a way to
strengthen their relationship while also setting a good example for their two
daughters, thirteen-year-old Sadie (Maude Apatow) and her little sister,
eight-year-old Charlotte (Iris Apatow). Pete, who is turning 40 within the same
week, is facing bankruptcy at his independent record label due to low album
sales and to make matters worse, his father Larry (Albert Brooks) is constantly
asking him for a handout despite his son's financial situation. Meanwhile,
Debbie is struggling with her own feelings with her absentee father Oliver
(John Lithgow) while she tries to figure out which of her two employees at the
clothing store she owns, Jodi (Charlyne Yi) or Desi (Megan Fox), is stealing
money from the till. With both of them suffering from a midlife crisis, Debbie
and Pete begin to drift further and further apart as they wrestle with an
uncertain future.
"This Is 40" actually starts off on a very strong
note with an endearing and hilarious scene involving the use (or misuse) of
Viagra. Apatow has always had a knack for making observations on the mundane
realities of modern life that are humorous yet also insightful and he does that
here with a series of funny vignettes where the husbands reveal their shared
fantasies of becoming widowers (it has to be a peaceful death since this is 'the mother of your children') while the
wives speak of their sexual frustrations and the loss of feeling 'down there.' However,
it soon becomes clear that that's all the film has to offer: a series of
loosely connected vignettes packed with extraneous subplots that are
underdeveloped and have little to do with anything other than contribute to a
bloated running time. 2 hours and 14 minutes is simply way too long for a
comedy when 90 to 100 minutes is perfectly sufficient. This is an issue that
pops up in almost every Apatow production as he is unable to or unwilling to
edit down his films, preferring to throw everything (and the kitchen sink) in
front of his camera.
For the record, the first forty-five minutes are quite
good, with a montage showing Pete and Debbie getting their respective check-ups
being one of the highlights. The first hour ends with the two escaping their
hectic life for a weekend getaway, sharing how they get on each other's nerves
and the ways they would murder one another before getting high on cookies laced
with marijuana. This is by far the best scene in the film, a frank and honest
look of a couple rediscovering themselves and reaffirming their love. Unfortunately,
"This Is 40" just goes downhill from there as it drags its feet,
destroying all the goodwill built up from the first hour and ending on a
clichéd happy ending that it has failed to earn. By casting his entire family, Apatow
is too close to the material and is unable to take a step back and look at his
film objectively. He tries to aim for authenticity but when we see this family
flaunt their tokens of wealth and complain of having 'financial problems,' it's
insulting and just shows how out-of-touch Apatow is if he truly believes this
is how the 'average' American lives. Although Pete and Debbie initially come
off as an imperfect yet amiable couple, by the second hour, they've devolved
into these shrill creatures who whine over every little thing and it's not hard
to pinpoint what their problem is. One is a cowardly, irresponsible man-child
and the other is a high-maintenance, control-freak bitch. What's worse is that
they never actually confront their own flaws and instead…blame their parents. In
the end, the characters haven't learned anything and resolve every problem with
an 'I love you,' as if that makes it all okay. "This Is 40"? More
like "This is Depressing."
Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann slip back into
their respective roles from "Knocked Up" with ease despite the
five-year gap and make for a very convincing married couple, exhibiting an easy
charm as far as the first hour goes. However, the script has them repeatedly at
each other's throats in the second hour and it's like watching two different
sets of characters with the same faces. In a blatant display of nepotism,
Apatow cast his own daughters as Pete and Debbie's children. Iris is sweet and
endearing while Maude comes off as an annoying, spoiled brat. At one point, she
completely loses it in an outburst directed at her parents and I have to say,
if my daughter spoke to me like that, I would have slapped her hard upside the
head, child services be damned. The supporting cast ends up being one of the
film's few saving graces, with Megan Fox's Desi sharing a funny moment with
Debbie (I see Apatow couldn't come up with more original names), who is amazed
at her employee's firm breasts and even gets to touch them. Melissa McCarthy
has an absolutely hilarious scene during a school conference with Pete and
Debbie where she rips into the principal for a good five minutes and the
outtakes of her at the end credits provide the most laughs out of the entire
film, which is rather sad when you think about it. Jason Segel, Chris O'Dowd, and
Charlyne Yi each shine in their own individual scenes while Albert Brooks is
delightful as Pete's freeloading father. He's also the father of young triplets
and his inability to tell them apart is a source of much amusement. John
Lithgow also shows up as Debbie's father, although he seems genuinely confused
as to what kind of film he's in.
Released on December 21, 2012, "This Is
40" has received mixed reviews with 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found
that it 'definitely delivers funny and perceptive scenes [but] they are buried
in aimless self-indulgence.' The film isn't exactly doing so well either at the
box office with its $11.5 million debut, although it should do better than
2009's "Funny People," which topped out at $51.8 million. "This
Is 40" has its moments of hilarity and can be brutally honest at times but
the whole film appears to be cobbled together without any rhyme or reason and
exists just to feed the ego of Judd Apatow. If there was any film this year
that didn't need to be made, it would be this one.
Final
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
"Forty
can suck my di*k!"
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